Took a couple of weeks off and didn’t worry as much about trying to include all the great stuff I found on other’s year-end lists but also didn’t worry as much about some late-2022 stuff working its way onto this list. It feels good to get writing again. This took longer than usual because I reviewed or previewed seven events between the last week of January and the first week of February. As always, thank you for reading, listening, or both.
For a year that vacillated wildly between jubilation at seeing people I hadn’t seen in contexts I hadn’t seen for over a year and utter despair that so much of the world is still a garbage fire, one of the consistent comforts came from the flood of music I loved.
Like last year, I loosely grouped these into “Songs” and “Spaces.” There are a number of items that could have fit on either list, this is definitely based on feel. In general, songs have lyrics and deal with a more direct emotion. Spaces should be posted tomorrow, Parting Gifts, a tribute to the (many) musicians who died this year who meant something or everything to me, will hopefully go out by the end of the weekend.
As spring rounded its bend toward summer, Anne and I took our first extended vacation since prior to the pandemic and it was a good mix of doing things, seeing both strangers and friends, and chilling the hell out. Saw phenomenal sets of Reigning Sound, Chuck Mead, and The Veldt. I think that influenced this month’s selections – reacquainting myself with the rhythm of airports, planes, favorite roads and coffee shops in beloved cities but also the surprising kind of slowed-down vacation where my usual Friday’s sort through new records was done with coffee on the porch of a beach house I’d never done before.
Columbus is returning to life and most of what has my number so far has been jazz – Randy Mather leading the Joe Diamond tribute act Rhinestone Quartet getting a packed dancefloor to the hard bop anthem “The Sidewinder” was magic. Brett Burleson leading another quartet with the great Eddie Bayard on tenor moving from one of his slow-burn ballad originals into an eye-of-the hurricane stomping take on Monk’s “Rhythm-a-ning” almost knocked me out of my chair.
Also, as you can probably tell from the full-to-bulging nature of this list, a bounty of music to love. Continue reading for notes on the songs.
I spent April in an anxiety-ridden state of transition: a dash of survivor’s guilt, a splash of irrational exuberance, a sprinkling of always-remember-it’s-not-over-yet, and a magnum of remembering how my socialization muscles feel when they move.
May was better, even as my heart went out to friends still suffering – with a particular eye on the Hyderabad team who I work with every day and who have taken some horrific losses. Only time will tell, but I think this month’s selections reflect that. As always, thank you for reading, for commenting, for turning me onto stuff that made this list, and for being part of my life.
Screen of Distance 